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Sudan Airways' Union Condemns Plan for Sweeping Cuts to Staff

Sudan Airways' Union Condemns Plan for Sweeping Cuts to Staff

(Bloomberg) -- Sudan Airways’ workers union condemned plans to cut most of the troubled national carrier’s staff as employees started receiving dismissal letters.

“This plan is unfair and we will appeal to the council of ministers, courts and human-rights organizations,” union Chairman Ala Aldien Babikir told reporters Thursday in the capital, Khartoum. A Sudanese state minister said last week the airline may dismiss 1,200 of its 1,500 employees as it tries to overcome difficulties in international banking transactions and importing spare parts.

Founded in 1946 and one of Africa’s oldest carriers, Sudan Airways was touted as a potential major beneficiary when the U.S. in October removed some trade restrictions it imposed in 1997 on accusations that Sudan sponsored terrorism.

Sudan Airways’ acting director, Yassir Timo, didn’t answer two calls after office hours on Thursday. Babikir said a first group of 207 employees have now received dismissal letters.

To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Richardson in Nairobi at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Michael Gunn, Helen Nyambura

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